Your operating agreement: Plotting out your business relationship

When it comes to starting a business entity there is a lot to decide and like any relationship the more people the more problems that come up in the birth of your business. Regardless of the type of entity you decide to form it is critical to start an open dialogue when it comes to deciding how the important business matters of your business will be handled. Businesses ebb and flow so while every important matter may not be a priority for your operating agreement there are a couple that are key.

Money – Like it or not money will be a running theme in your business so deciding how it should be handled is crucial. As you start off contributions take center stage. While the state default is that your ownership rights are determined by your percentage of contribution you can decide to split it in different ways to reflect experience, sweat equity or other resources being donated by a partner. It is also important to decide once money or losses begins to flow how it will be divided. Again it can just be a reflection of initial contributions but it can also work to compensate members for management or even repay initial heavy contributions.

Management – Just because you start a business does not mean your main skill set will be to run the business. In a partnership hopefully each partner will bring their own wining expertise to make your team as well rounded as possible. So if one person is the money and one is the brains you want this discussed and to be reflected in your operating agreement. You can also decide that appointed managers will be responsible for managing the entity all together. The decision you make early on can have important repercussions especially if changes is needed so discussing it early helps sort out problems before they start.

Changes down the road – If nothing else is guaranteed in business change definitely is. How your business will roll with the punches called entrepreneurship is key to long term success. Thinking about what happens if a partner gets sick, dies, or no longer wants to retain their shares in the business give everyone a leg up instead of having to fight in the case of disaster or discord. Note that the default to some agreements is if that if one member rescinds the entity will cease to exist to read and proceed carefully when planning for the future.